EDITOR:
After much soul-searching, I have decided to voice an opinion on the overuse of roundabouts on P.E.I. Yes, roundabouts can and do greatly reduce the potential for traffic accidents, but they have been overused and constructed in some very unnecessary places, which I will not identify at this juncture because they are after the fact. Of concern to me is the one planned to be built on the Stratford Road at Glen Stewart Drive. I do not believe there was consultation with Stratford residents until March 6, yet the regional engineer stated in The Guardian "We're committed to building this (roundabout) this year...". Yes, that area can be a bit congested at the time of drop-off and pick-up of children at the schools, but for the rest of the weekdays, the weekends, and the entire summer there is no problem at all. And this roundabout is estimated to cost $1.1 million, and no doubt it will run higher. Hello? It would be more sensible and much more cost effective, as well as less intrusive to Stratford residents, to connect Glen Stewart Drive and MacKinnon Drive first to see if that would alleviate the situation before spending well over $1 million. That's a whole lot of money – money that needs to be put toward repairing our treacherous pot-hole ridden roads. The only Islanders that I know of who don't mind our terrible roads are the auto body repair shops. What kind of intelligence and prudence is being shown by our government when they so freely spend the taxpayer's money in that fashion? First and foremost: repair all the roads before constructing another roundabout!
This is only my humble opinion, but I'm sure it is shared by many Islanders.
Lynda Mosher,
Stratford
